Gregor the Overlander and the Rager Child
by LMHouseMouse
Summary: Sequel to Gregor the Overlander Returns. This story follows Arabella and Luca as they return to the Underland after being absent for 6 years, and deal with many realities that they are not trained for or prepared to face.
1. Author's Note

Okay guys, so here goes! I know that I've been saying I was going to get my crap together and write this for a long time, and honestly, my crap is nowhere near together yet, but I hate keeping you guys waiting. So, I hope that you love it, and as always, I love your suggestions a feedback!


	2. Prologue

"I'm so gonna beat you." Arabella said as she crouched in what she thought was a very athletic looking position. She imagined herself leaping forward like a cheetah, and outrunning her brother. Her face was set seriously, and she was intent on the path ahead of her. Her brother, who had not bothered to take a stance turned to her, squinting as the sun shone through the trees and into his eyes.

"You probably will beat me, you train at least twice as much as I do." Luca said with a shrug. Arabella let out a huff, and relaxed her body. She stood and turned toward him, yellow, red, and brown leaves crunching beneath her feet.

"If you think you're going to lose, then you are going to lose! You have to at least try." She complained. Luca had a history of not caring for his sisters little competitions, at all, and it frustrated her to no end that he wouldn't just play along.

"You've always been faster than me, I can't help it. And besides, you don't want me to win, you hate losing. Why would you even want me to try?" He replied, still completely nonchalant.

"Because I don't have anyone else to race up here! You're never any fun, and I wish you would just play with me nicely for once." Arabella said, crossing her arms. Arabella had many friends in the Underland, but when she and Luca visited the surface, as they were doing now, they only had each other. Sometimes their cousins tagged along, but they were younger and not very much fun anyway. Luca looked at his sister, arms crossed, hip pushed out to the side. It was her standard reaction when she wasn't getting her way. Arabella held his gaze, until Luca swiftly and gracefully turned, and sprinted away as fast as he could.

"Hey!" Arabella shouted after him indignantly as she ran after him. She tried to be upset, but soon she was giggling as she was running, gaining on her brother quickly. Arabella raced past her brother, and and gained a significant lead over him as she raced toward their father, who marked their finish line with their two younger sisters on a picnic blanket. Luca tried his best to look upset that he had lost, and Arabella grinned from ear to ear. As they passed their dad, finishing the race, he cheered for them both, and their younger sisters joined in. The twins jogged over to their family, out of breath.

"Ella, you are soooooo fast!" Darielle, the younger of the two exclaimed. "One day, in lots of years, when I'm you're age, I'll be as fast as you."

"You only have seven years to go!" Arabella said as she swooped down to tickle her sister.

"I'm five!" Danielle exclaimed, as she was known to do whenever someone mentioned any number.

"Why do you always race with Ella if you don't like racing?" Kindra, their 8 year old sister asked Luca, looking confused. Kindra had to know the reason that any person did anything they did, always. Their mom always said that one day, she would be a better diplomat and person for it, but in that moment, it was just very annoying.

"Because she is my twin, and I love her, and I can't stand to see her pout." Luca explained, demonstrating a pout, sticking his bottom lip out and looking up pleadingly. The girls all giggled, even Arabelle, though she tried to pretend to be offended. She looked around at her family, happy to be in their company, but the whole picture was missing something.

"I wish mom could come up here with us once in a while." Arabella lamented.

"Me too, sweetheart, but not only is she extremely busy, but you know that she could get very sick if she were to be in the sun too long." Arabella sighed, looking out into the beautiful park, breathing in the autumn air.

"She came up here once, before you two got married."

"Yes, she did. However, that was an extreme circumstance, and she didn't do too well while she was up here." Arabella opened her mouth to ask for about the hundredth time what the extreme circumstance that brought her mother to the Overland was, but before she could utter a word, her dad cut her off.

"Okay, my beautiful brood." The he said with a grunt as he stood up. "It's time to be getting home." Arabella rolled her eyes, plenty old enough to know when her questions were being avoided, and stood as well. Kindra and Darielle let out a stereo "awhhhhhh", but helped the others fold up the blanket and pack up the toys and snacks that they had brought into Central Park. In about five minutes, they were ready to go. The family visited the park a few times a week. only during the weekdays, either in the extremely early morning, or right after lunch, when the park would be the least crowded. Now, it was nearing 3 o'clock, and it was time to go before the people getting off of work started flooding in. The group walked over to the rock, and collectively looked around, checking for anyone near enough to be watching them. The coast was clear, so their father pushed the rock aside, and they all slipped into the door waiting there for them. They stood for a moment, letting their eyes adjust to the lack of the light, and then continued on their way. They weaved through the familiar passageway, coming a few minutes later to the place where they were always dropped off by the fliers. Usually, two fliers patrolled the drop off while the royal family was at the surface, awaiting their return. This time, however, as they found themselves at the rendezvous point, there was not a single flier waiting for them. They all looked at each other, and back out into the darkness. They had flashlights, but those could only illuminate so much.

"We'll wait here for a little while, and if someone doesn't come for us, I will head out myself, and you will stay here." The children sat down on the ground quietly. They all tried to pretend that they didn't feel the giant knots in their stomach, or their hearts in their throats. They were the royal family. The only reasons that they wouldn't have a pickup waiting for them were emergency. Arabella thought of their city, and their palace, trying not to, but imagining the worst; fire, chaos, pain, enemies. Luca placed a reassuring hand on his sister's shoulder, and tried to hide the fact that his mind was racing about their mother. She was brave and fierce, and more than capable of leading an army and fighting valiantly. But, that was exactly why Luca was so concerned about his mother. They all sat in silence, their father pacing back and forth. Finally, they all heard the familiar sound of air whooshing around a pair of giant wings. Soon, their mother's bond's golden fur was visible, and they all breathed a small sigh of relief. Aurora swooped in, with their mother on her back. The queen didn't even bother to dismount, Aurora just lowered herself so that the queen could see everyone clearly. Their mother and father immediately locked eyes, and the children knew from their faces alone that their was something horrible going on. Arabella quickly noticed that her mother was wearing full battle dress, and was out of breath, panting as she prepared herself to speak.

"The cutters are here. They have launched a full scale attack, and they are after the children. You cannot come back to Regalia right now." the queen said gravely.

"Alright, i'll bring them up to my parents, and then i'll come join you." Their father replied.

"No." The queen said, shaking her head. Their father instantly looked upset, hurt, and then angry.

"Excuse me? Are you going to tell me that I'm suppose to just let my kingdom and my queen to fight without me?"

"Exactly. I…" The queen paused, obviously weighing what she was about to say.

"Luxa, sweetheart, what?" their father said tenderly. Their mother looked sadly at all of them, and then turned back to her husband.

"I do not know if we will be able to win this battle. If we lose, I will not allow our children to be without either parent, and I cannot go to the Overland with them." Their father opened his mouth as if he were about to argue, but one look at his children, and he knew that he couldn't leave them like this. "Someone will be in touch in a few days, through the laundry room. We will go from there. If you do not here anything within seven days…Well, I am sure you can make that conclusion for yourself."

Their parents shared one more grave look before their mother leapt off of her bond, and they embraced each other fiercely. After their moment, their mother turned to them, giving each a loving hug, kiss, and a teary 'goodbye for now'. Then, their mother remounted her flier, blew them all one more kiss, and headed back to their city under siege. Each child was wiping tears from their eyes, wondering whether they would ever see their mother again.


	3. Chapter 1

**So apparently I uploaded a chapter from another of my stories before, sorry guys! But here this one is, the correct chapter!**

It was completely dark, and Arabella had no idea was she was. She only knew that she was falling, fast. She was plummeting down a tunnel, and she must've been getting pretty close to the ground, though she couldn't see to know that for sure. She looked frantically around her, flailing her arms, hoping to find purchase somewhere. There was nothing. When she had been in the Underland, she never had to fear falling. There was always a flier there to catch her. Now, she was hopeless. She looked down, expecting to see nothing, but instead, she finally saw the hard, stone ground rushing toward her face.

"Ella!" Darielle yelled, as she jumped onto her sister's bed. Arabella jerked awake, looking frantically around. She was in her bedroom, cold sweating in her bed. Her youngest sister was on her knees, bouncing on the bed excitedly, staring expectantly at her sister. She was wearing her fluffiest pink dress, a ribbon tied in her hair. Arabella was sure that she probably looked like hell.

"What is it?" She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes. These nightmares were not allowing her much sleep lately. She looked around her disheveled room. Well, half of the room. Though she was now 18 years old, she still shared a room with her twin. Though her grandparent's house, which she had been living in for 6 years, was quite large, it wasn't large enough to afford everyone their own bedroom. Arabella and Luca shared a room, and Kindra and Darielle shared another. Even if there were enough space for her to have her own room, Arabella didn't think she would want to. She enjoyed having her brother close. Even when they had lived in the palace, and there were more than enough sprawling rooms without, the twins had shared theirs.

"Mommy is coming today! She'll be here any minute!" and with that, Darielle pranced out of the bedroom, heading downstairs to tell someone else no doubt. Arabella sighed, laying back down. She was exhausted, but she was very excited to see her mother too. The queen had stayed in Regalia while the rest of her family moved the surface. After the cutter attack, Regalia was near decimated, and extremely vulnerable to further attacks. Arabella's parents had decided that the children should stay in the Overland, where they were sure to be safe. Their father, the king had wanted to help rebuild their home as well, but their mother insisted that they needed one of their parents with them at all times, and she couldn't very well live in the Overland. So, the queen had lived separately from her family for six years, though she visited the surface whenever she could, usually about once a week. Lately, though, she had been visiting more frequently. Arabella secretly hoped that it was a good sign, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

Arabella ran her hands over her face and through her hair, trying to wake herself up. She looked over the room, past her piles of clothes, books and other junk littering the floor, and over to her brother's immaculate side. He was sitting silently on the bed, watching her intently.

"The tunnel again?" He asked, but he already knew what the answer was. Luca and Arabella shared a deep connection. Their parents jokingly called it 'twin telepathy', though they weren't far off. They could always finish each other's sentences, read each other's faces, tell what the other was going to do next. Sometimes it did feel like they could read each other's minds. Sometimes they even had the same dreams. Luca usually didn't share Arabella's falling nightmares, but he knew enough about them to know when she had one, and to know that they affected her deeply.

"Yeah. Its still totally pitch black, I cant see anything or tell where I am. And then, after I've been falling for a while, I look down, and Im about to hit the ground. And then I wake up." Arabella sat up, and began fumbling around for some clothes. As she crossed to her closet, she stepped on a pair of tweezers that stabbed her foot. She hopped around as she cursed, still trying to make her way to her clothes.

"You should really clean up in here." Her brother said, though he looked at her sympathetically. He then left Arabella to change out of her pajamas. She flicked on the light in the closet, and sighed. She wished she could be more like her brother, who owned a minimal amount of clothing, all shoved in a dresser. He could care less what he wore. Arabella had tons of clothing, which she was thankful for, but it made it difficult to make decisions. After a few minutes of deliberation, she decided on her most comfortably worn pair of jeans, and a flowing, summery tank top. That was about as close to slouchy her wardrobe got. As soon as Arabella walked out of her room, headed toward the staircase, she could smell pancakes, the staple Saturday morning breakfast in the Campbell household. She also heard lots of exciting chatter, meaning that her mother must have arrived. Arabella rushed down the stairs, past all of the family pictures hanging in the hall, and into the living room. Sure enough, her mother was there, surrounded by her siblings and father, all swarming and hugging and chattering. Arabella crossed to her family, and joined in, hugging her mother, saying good morning to her dad and Kindra. Arabella noticed that her grandparents were not there, which was odd. They never missed Saturday morning breakfast. Arabella shot Luca a questioning look, he always seemed to know what was going on. This time though, he just raised an eyebrow at her, and gave a small shrug in response. They all stood and chattered for a minute, until their father cleared his throat.

"Okay guys, before we eat, we all need to talk about something, so lets sit down." He said, and moved to sit at the table, which was set with breakfast. Whatever it was, it must've been pretty important to come before pancake breakfast. Arabella was immediately excited and nervous. What if they were finally going to get to go back to the Underland. Arabella desperately wished that was what it was, but she had no idea what it was that she would be going back to. She hadn't seen it since the day she left when she was 12, and since then it had almost been decimated and then rebuild. She constantly went between wishing she could just return home, and wondering if it was still even home at all. The family got settled, and the kids looked expectantly at their parents. The two adults shared a look, as if silently decided who would be the one to speak, and then turned back to them. It turned out, the queen had either volunteered, or lost.

"Well, my loves. I am here today because we need to discuss something very important. Regalia has been in the process of being repaired for 6 years, both figuratively and literally. Much of the city, and well as many of our people, were lost in the cutter invasion. As you know, you have all been up here for your safety, because nowhere in the Underland was truly safe. Well, now the city is almost fully repaired, though the peace that we once experienced has not been. We have warded off attacks from many of the other species since the cutters, because they wished to take advantage of our vulnerability. Now, we are finally building our ranks again, and we are not so vulnerable. Your father and I have been discussing these things for a while now, because we wish for our family to be together once again. However, we are not sure that Regalia is completely safe for you quite yet." Arabella's heart sunk. Her parents had decided to tell them that they wouldn't be going back anytime soon. Great. Arabella wondered if she might just go anyway. She was an adult, how much longer would she allow her parent's to make her decisions for her? Arabella missed her home, and she wanted to return. And, besides that, she had always wanted to be a warrior. When she was a child, she trained in every spare moment for that purpose. Though she had tried to keep up with her training, it was not the same to train alone, and without instruction. She tried to enlist her father to aid her in training, but he was often unwilling. Arabella was a rager, like him, and he never wanted her used for her ability like he had been. He didn't even want her to be a warrior at all. Arabella felt, however, that she was obviously born to be a warrior. In battle was the only time she felt completely in charge of herself, completely sure of what to do, where to go. Completely sure that she wouldn't lose control, and even if she did, it wouldn't matter. In the Overland, without an outlet for herself, she felt constantly on edge, afraid of what she could do if she were put in the wrong situation. It was more than time for her to go back, and follow the path she was meant to take. The queen's voice caught Arabella's attention again.

"Ultimately, the decision has come down to this. If Regalia is ever to be safe again, we need to display our confidence, and how far we have come to the rest of the Underland. And the best way to do that is to bring you back down there. Also, I need your father ruling by my side. Regalia is better when it has him. So, in short, you will be coming home. Today."


	4. Chapter 2

Arabella looked at her mother for a moment, not comprehending what she had heard. When after a few seconds her mother stayed silent, Arabella looked to her brother with wide eyes. His face was set in a look of neutrality, like always, but she could sense his shock as well. He met her eyes and shrugged a little bit. ' _I don't know, but you might as well play along',_ he seemed to tell her. Arabella was happy to go home, truly. But she could tell how unsettled her mother was. Thought Arabella had full confidence that her parents would never put their family in harm's way if they could help it, sometimes they couldn't help it. Mostly safe didn't mean completely safe, but she supposed it was better than nothing. As soon as her mother had made the announcement, Arabella's sisters had flown to her, squealing and chattering excitedly. Though the girls hardly remembered much, their few memories, and their family's tales of its grandeur had surely made them curious, and homesick, though they hardly knew for what. Arabella looked at her sisters' excitement, and figured she could wait to bombarde her parents with questions. After a few minutes of celebrating, and a pancake breakfast full of excited planning and chatter, everyone was sent off to pack their belongings.

As Arabella unceremoniously threw everything she could grab into a collection of bags, she couldn't stop wondering what it would be like. The Underland she had remembered had been amazing. Thought New York was pretty great, it was never her home. However, Arabella had a feeling that she wouldn't be going back to the home she remembered. It had been through a lot since she had been gone. She could only hope that her people did not hate her for leaving. Arabella had always loved being a princess, the pretty dresses, the tutors, the parties. But more than that, she had loved the idea that she would one day rule her kingdom. That one day, it would be her voice and influence helping the city and its people that she loved so dearly. Being queen had always been her purpose, and she knew it. Luca, however, thought the same about himself. That seemed to be the one thing that the twins didn't talk about: who would eventually get the crown. Arabella wanted nothing more to be queen, but she couldn't dream of taking the position from her brother either. She looked over at him, watching him meticulously fold and pack all of his things, organizing them by bag. Arabella wished, often, that she could be more like him. Neat, organized, together. He had none of the wildness boiling below his surface, none of the danger lurking in every foul mood or sibling rivalry. Her parent's had suggested that perhaps organizing herself and her mind may in fact help her to keep control over herself, but Arabella found that useless busywork made her want to tear things apart even more.

"Why are you staring at me?" Luca asked without turning to face his sister. Lost in thought, Arabella had been drilling holes into his back with her eyes.

"What do you think it will be like?" She responded.

"I really don't know. I don't think that they would bring us back if the place were in complete ruin. But at the same time, mom sure didn't seem convinced that everything has been rebuilt and is safe." Arabella nodded, chewing on her lower lip, thinking some more. Though she was nervous about what she would see in the Underland, she decided, it was her duty to do whatever she could to help her kingdom recover. She wondered if she would be allowed to fight, should there be need for that. Arabella had trained every moment she possibly could when she was in Regalia, because it was supposed to help her gain control over her rager skill. Since coming to the Overland, she trained as much as she could, enlisting her father's help when he would lend it, though that turned out to be not very often. Her father desperately wanted her to stay away from battle, which had confused Arabella for a long time, because she thought for sure he would know what it was like. If Arabella didn't work out her energy, if she kept herself still or docile for too long, the thrumming in her veins became pounding. She felt fire throughout her body, and the slightest thing could set her off, destroying everything in her wake. She had wrecked her and Luca's rooms both in the Under and Overlands plenty of times. Beside that, if Arabella witnessed an altercation or fight, she felt drawn to it. She felt the need to be in the mix. If she couldn't start it, she sure could always end it. Battle beckoned her at all hours of the day. But, her father it seemed, was a different type of rager. His skill conveniently appeared when he needed it, in times of distress. Though it had taken complete control of him before he had learned how to harness it, he had soon gotten it under control. Arabella, on the other hand, still lived in constant fear of herself. When she trained, she felt in control of herself. She knew what to do, always faster, and better than even her dad, honed and completely in control. It was the rest of the time that was so hard, when the rage didn't have an outlet. Just thinking about the battles she could have to face in the Underland raised her blood pressure, so she started to scramble for something else to think about.

"Whatever happens, Ella, it'll be fine. There isn't a thing down there that we can't handle." Luca said, feeling the ensuing panic radiating from his sister. She nodded, and though he wasn't looking at her, he knew. Packing didn't take long, even though they had been in the Overland for six years, they had always stayed ready to leave at a moment's notice. Even Arabella's expansive wardrobe was packed within a matter of minutes. As they lugged all of their things down the stairs, Arabella thought longingly of her massive closet in the palace. None of her old finery would be any good to her now, so she would have to replace it all with new things. ' _What a shame."_ she thought with a smirk. Arabella dropped her bags into the collective heap at the bottom of the stairs. She stood for a moment, looking around at the home. When her father had gone down to the Underland for good, at first her grandparents had been upset. Eventually, they got over it, and then when her mother got pregnant with her and Luca, they moved back to New York to be close. And then, when the cutters had attacked Regalia, they took her family in without a second thought. Arabella thought about how lucky she was to have them as she surveyed the house for a moment. The walls were lined in pictures of her family, of all of her siblings and her parents, as well as her aunts and their families. From the wooden floors to the very ceiling, everything about that house was familiar to Arabella, and though she was sure she would see her grandparents soon enough, she wondered when she would see that house. With all of the emotions that returning the Underland dredged up, also the came the ever looming realization that Arabella wasn't sure when she would be able to come to the surface again. As she got older, and her role in her court became more important, she would be able to leave less and less. When she was queen, would she be allowed to leave at all? Voices from the living room kept Arabella from worrying for too long. Arabella's grandparents had returned from wherever they had run off to earlier that morning. Everyone was gathered behind the giant L-shaped couch, a big lumpy brown thing that had been there as long as Arabella could remember. Her grandmother hated it, but according to her, it had been the biggest one she could find, so she got it so that her "ever growing clan". Arabella's family turned to look at her and Luca as they came into the room, and she immediately moved to embrace her grandparents. They each gave her a long hug, and did the same for Luca.

"Thank you so much for taking care of us all this time...I love you so much." Arabella said. Luca simply nodded his agreement behind her, but his eyes brimmed with tears, as did everyone else's.

"Don't you thank me for something like that, it's my job. You children, all of you, are the lights of my life." Her grandmother replied. She had attempted a stern tone, but the softness in her eyes gave her away. Arabella smiled at her, ever closer to crying. "No tears," Her grandmother said, touching Arabella's face, even though her own eyes were silver rimmed. "I will see you soon, no ifs ands or buts." Arabella nodded and gave her another hug, and then did the same for her grandfather. As he held her to his chest, he said quietly, so that only she could hear,

"You will do amazing things Ella, but remember that even queens need pancakes once in awhile." Arabella laughed as she pulled away, even though her resolved slipped and a tear burst forth and trailed its way down her face. The rest of her family embraced her grandparents, and then they started on their way back home.


End file.
